Gambo et al.

Advances in Difference Equations (2018) 2018:134

https://doi.org/10.1186/s13662-018-1594-y

RESEARCH Open Access

Existence and uniqueness of solutions to

fractional differential equations in the frame
of generalized Caputo fractional derivatives
Y.Y. Gambo1 , R. Ameen2 , F. Jarad3* and T. Abdeljawad4
*
Correspondence:
fahd@cankaya.edu.tr Abstract
3
Department of Mathematics,
Faculty of Arts and Sciences, The generalized Caputo fractional derivative is a name attributed to the Caputo
Cankaya University, Ankara, Turkey version of the generalized fractional derivative introduced in Jarad et al. (J. Nonlinear
Full list of author information is Sci. Appl. 10:2607–2619, 2017). Depending on the value of ρ in the limiting case, the
available at the end of the article
generality of the derivative is that it gives birth to two different fractional derivatives.
However, the existence and uniqueness of solutions to fractional differential
equations with generalized Caputo fractional derivatives have not been proven. In
this paper, Cauchy problems for differential equations with the above derivative in the
space of continuously differentiable functions are studied. Nonlinear Volterra type
integral equations of the second kind corresponding to the Cauchy problem are
presented. Using Banach fixed point theorem, the existence and uniqueness of
solution to the considered Cauchy problem is proven based on the results obtained.
Keywords: Generalized Caputo fractional derivative; Existence and uniqueness;
Cauchy problem

1 Introduction
The fractional calculus is the branch of mathematics that studies the integration and dif-
ferentiation of real or complex orders. Even though this calculus is old, it has been gaining
astounding popularity for the recent decades only. This is due to its numerous seemingly
diverse applications [2–8]. The most interesting speciality of the fractional operators is
that there are many of these operators. This enables a researcher to choose the most suit-
able operator in order to describe the dynamics in a real world problem.
The fractional calculus was bounded up with fractional integrals obtained by iterating
an integral to get the nth order integral and then replacing n by any number, and then by
using the classical method the corresponding derivatives were defined (see, for example,
[1, 9–14]). However, for the sake of better description of real world phenomena, some sci-
entists discovered new fractional operators with nonlocal and nonsingular kernels using
the limiting process with the help of the Dirac delta function. For such operators, we refer
to [15–17]. Other types of new fractional derivatives can be found in [18–21].
On the other hand, the existence and uniqueness of solutions are among the most impor-
tant qualitative properties of differential equations. The existence and uniqueness of so-
lutions of differential equations involving the fractional derivatives were tackled by many
researchers (see [22–26] and the references therein).

© The Author(s) 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
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Gambo et al. Advances in Difference Equations (2018) 2018:134 Page 2 of 13

This paper studies fractional Cauchy problems with left generalized Caputo fractional
derivatives in the space of continuously differentiable functions and proves the existence
and uniqueness of solutions to these problems. We consider the following Cauchy prob-
lem:

C       
aD
α,ρ
x (t) = h t, x(t), Ca Dα1 ,ρ x (t), . . . , Ca Dαm ,ρ x (t) , (1)

subject to the initial conditions

 
γ k x (a) = dk , dk ∈ R (k = 0, 1, . . . , n – 1), (2)

where ρ ∈ R+ , n = [α] + 1, αj ∈ (j – 1, j], j = 1, 2, . . . , m < n; α0 = 0, γ = t 1–ρ dtd and Ca Dαj ,ρ

denotes the generalized Caputo fractional differential operator of order αj .
As part of the main work, nonlinear Volterra type integral equations of the second kind
corresponding to the Cauchy problems are shown and, subsequently, Banach fixed point
theorem is applied. But before we start, let us recall some definitions from the fractional
calculus [2–4].
The left Riemann–Liouville fractional integral of order α, (α) > 0 is defined by

 α
 1 t
aI f (t) = (t – u)α–1 f (u) du. (3)
(α) a

The right Riemann–Liouville fractional integral of order α, (α) > 0 is defined by


  1 b
Ibα f (t) = (u – t)α–1 f (u) du. (4)
(α) t

The left Riemann–Liouville fractional derivative of order α, (α) ≥ 0 is given as

n 
 dn  n–α  d
dt n
t  
α
a D f (t) = a I f (t) = (t – u)n–α–1 f (u) du, n = (α) + 1. (5)
dt n (n – α) a

The right Riemann–Liouville fractional derivative of order α, (α) ≥ 0 reads as follows:

  dn  
Dαb f (t) = (–1)n n Ibn–α f (t)
dt
n dn  b  
(–1) dtn
= (u – t)n–α–1 f (u) du, n = (α) + 1. (6)
(n – α) t

The left Caputo fractional derivative of order α, (α) ≥ 0 has the form

C   n–α (n)  1 t  
α
a D f (t) = a I f (t) = (t – u)α–1 f (n) (u) du, n = (α) + 1. (7)
(n – α) a

The right Caputo fractional derivative of order α, (α) ≥ 0 reads as follows:

C   
Dαb f (t) = Ibn–α (–1)n f (n) (t)
 b
(–1)n  
= (u – t)n–α–1 f (n) (u) du, n = (α) + 1. (8)
(n – α) t
Gambo et al. Advances in Difference Equations (2018) 2018:134 Page 3 of 13

The Hadamard type fractional integrals and derivatives were introduced in [9].
The left Hadamard fractional integral of order α, (α) > 0 has the following form:

  1 t
du
a J f (t) =
α
(log t – log u)α–1 f (u) . (9)
(α) a u

The right Hadamard fractional integral of order α, (α) > 0 is defined by


  1 b
du
Jbα f (t) = (log u – log t)α–1 f (u) . (10)
(α) t u

The left Hadamard fractional derivative of order α, (α) ≥ 0 is given by

 
  d n  n–α 
a D f (t) = t aJ
α
f (t)
dt

(t d )n t du  
= dt (log t – log u)α–1 f (u) , n = (α) + 1. (11)
(α) a u

The right Hadamard fractional derivative of order α, (α) ≥ 0 reads as follows:

 
  d n  n–α 
Dbα f (t) = –t Jb f (t)
dt

(–t dtd )n b du  
= (log u – log t)α–1 f (u) , n = (α) + 1. (12)
(α) t u

The left Caputo–Hadamard fractional derivative of order α, (α) ≥ 0 is presented as

[12, 13]
  
C 

n–1 k
δ f (a) u k d
aD f (t) = a D
α α
f (u) – log (t), δ=t , (13)
k! a dt
k=0

and in the space ACδn [a, b] = {g : [a, b] → C : δ n–1 [g(t)] ∈ AC[a, b]} equivalently by
   
C  d n  
aD aJ n = (α) + 1.
α n–α
f (t) = t f (t), (14)
dt

The right Caputo–Hadamard fractional derivative of order α, (α) ≥ 0 > 0 is defined by

[12, 13]
  
C 

n–1
(–1)k δ k f (b) b k
aD f (t) = a D
α α
f (u) – log (t), (15)
k! u
k=0

and in the space ACδn [a, b] equivalently by

   
C  d n
Dbα f (t) = Jbn–α
–t f (t). (16)
dt

For a < b, c ∈ R, and 1 ≤ p < ∞, define the measurable Lebesgue function space
  b 1/p 
c
Xcp (a, b) = f : [a, b] → R : f Xcp = t f (t) p dt <∞ .
a t
Gambo et al. Advances in Difference Equations (2018) 2018:134 Page 4 of 13

For p = ∞, f Xcp = ess supa≤t≤b [t c |f (t)|]. The generalized left and right fractional integrals
of order α, (α) > 0 are defined in [10] as

 t α–1
 α,ρ
 1 t ρ – uρ du
aI f (t) = f (u) (17)
(α) a ρ u1–ρ

and
 b α–1
  1 uρ – t ρ du
Ibα,ρ f (t) = f (u) , (18)
(α) t ρ u1–ρ

respectively.
One can notice that when ρ = 1, the integrals in (17) and (18) reduce to the integrals in
(2) and (3), respectively. Moreover, when one takes the limits of the integrals in (17) and
(18) as ρ → 0, the Hadamard fractional integrals in (9) and (10) are obtained, respectively.
The left and right generalized fractional derivatives of order α, (α) ≥ 0 are defined by
(see [11])

 t n–α–1
    γn t ρ – uρ du
aD
α,ρ
f (t) = γ n a I n–α,ρ f (t) = f (u) (19)
(n – α) a ρ u1–ρ

and
 b n–α–1
    (–γ )n uρ – t ρ du
Dbα,ρ f (x) = (–γ )n a I n–α,ρ f (t) = f (u) , (20)
(n – α) t ρ u1–ρ

respectively, where γ = t 1–ρ dtd . Putting ρ = 1 in (19) and (20), one gets the Riemann–
Liouville fractional derivatives (5) and (6); and letting ρ tend to 0, one gets the Hadamard
fractional derivatives (11) and (12).
For the functions in ACγn [a, b] = {f : [a, b] → C and γ n–1 f ∈ AC[a, b], γ = t 1–ρ dtd } and
Cγn [a, b] = {f : [a, b] → C and γ n–1 f ∈ C[a, b], γ = t 1–ρ dtd }, the left and right generalized
Caputo fractional derivatives of order α, (α) > 0 are given respectively as in [1] as follows:

 t n–α–1
C α,ρ 1 t ρ – uρ (γ n f )(u) du  
aD f (t) = = a I n–α,ρ γ n f (t) (21)
(n – α) a ρ u1–ρ

and
 b  ρ ρ n–α–1
1 u –t (–1)n (γ n f )(u) du
C
Dbα,ρ f (t) =
(n – α) t ρ u1–ρ
 
= Ibn–α,ρ (–1)n γ n f (t). (22)

It can be observed that (21) becomes the left Caputo derivative (7) when one replaces ρ by
1 and the left Caputo–Hadamard derivative (14) if one takes the limit as ρ approaches 0.
The same relation holds for (22) and (8), and (22) and (16).
This paper is organized as follows. In Sect. 2 we present definitions, notations, and lem-
mas that will be used in this work. In Sect. 3 we present the Cauchy type problem for which
the existence and uniqueness are considered.
Gambo et al. Advances in Difference Equations (2018) 2018:134 Page 5 of 13

2 Auxiliary results
Let C n ([a, b], C) be the Banach space of all continuously differentiable functions from [a, b]
to C. We recall the space Cγn [a, b] and define the weighted spaces C,ρ [a, b], Cγn , [a, b], and
Cγα,r [a, b] of a function f . For n – 1 < (α) ≤ n, 0 ≤ () < 1, and ρ ∈ R+ , we define

 
Cγn [a, b] = f : [a, b] → C s.t. γ n f ∈ C[a, b] . (23)

  ρ  
t – aρ 
C,ρ [a, b] = f : f (x) ∈ C[a, b] ; C0,ρ [a, b] = C[a, b] for ρ = 0 (24)
ρ
endowed with the norm
 ρ    ρ 
 t – aρ   t – aρ 
f C,ρ =  
f (t) = max f (t) . (25)
ρ C t∈[a,b] ρ
   
x
C,ρ [a, b] = f : log f (x) ∈ C[a, b] ; C0,ρ [a, b] = C[a, b] for ρ = 0 (26)
a

endowed with the norm

    
 x   x 
f C,ρ = f C,log 
=  log 
f (x) = max log f (x) . (27)
a C x∈[a,b] a

The space Cγn , [a, b] is defined by

 
Cγn , [a, b] = f : γ n–1 f ∈ C[a, b] and γ n f ∈ C,ρ [a, b], ρ > 0 (28)

endowed with the norm

n–1
 k   
f Cγn , = γ f  + γ n f  ,
C C,ρ
k=0
(29)

n

( = 0 ⇒)f Cγn = max γ k f (x) , ρ > 0.
x∈[a,b]
k=0

For 0 ≤  < 1,  ≤ α, we define Cγα,r [a, b] by

   
Cγα,r, [a, b] = f ∈ Cγr [a, b] : Ca Dα,ρ f ∈ C,ρ [a, b], r ∈ N ,
(30)
Cγr,r [a, b] = Cγr , [a, b],

0
where we use Cγα,0 α
, [a, b] = Cγ , [a, b] and C0,ρ [a, b] = Cγ [a, b] = C[a, b]. The generalized
fractional integrals and generalized fractional derivatives satisfy the following semigroup
properties.

Lemma 2.1 ([10]) For a function f defined on [a, b], we have

    
aI
α,ρ
aI
β,ρ
f (t) = a I α+β,ρ f (t), (α) > 0, (β) > 0. (31)
Gambo et al. Advances in Difference Equations (2018) 2018:134 Page 6 of 13

p
Lemma 2.2 ([1]) For a function f ∈ Xc (a, b), ρ ≥ c, we have

 α,ρ
 β,ρ
  
aD aI f (t) = a I β–α,ρ f (t), β > α > 0, (32)

holds almost everywhere on [a, b]. When α = β, we have (a Dα,ρ (a I α,ρ f ))(t) = f (t) almost
everywhere.

Lemma 2.3 ([1]) Let (α > 0), n = [(α)] + 1, and (β) > 0, then

 β–1  ρ 
xρ – aρ (β) x – aρ β–α–1
C α,ρ
aD = , (β) > n. (33)
ρ (β – α) ρ

For k = 0, 1, . . . , n – 1,
 k
C α,ρ xρ – aρ
aD = 0. (34)
ρ

Lemma 2.4 ([1]) Let α ∈ C, n = [(α)] + 1, f ∈ ACγn [a, b], or Cγn [a, b]. Then

 
 
α,ρ C α,ρ
 n–1
(γ k f )(a) xρ – aρ k
aI aD f (x) = f (x) – . (35)
k! ρ
k=0

Lemma 2.5 ([1]) Assume ρ > 0. Then the space Cγn [a, b] consists of those and only those
functions f which are represented in the form

 t n–1

n–1  
a t ρ – uρ (γ n f )(u) (γ k f )(a) t ρ – aρ k
f (t) = du + . (36)
(n – 1)! a ρ u1–ρ k! ρ
k=0

Theorem 2.6 (Banach fixed point theorem) Let (X, d) be a nonempty complete metric
space, and let 0 ≤ λ < 1. If T : X → X is a mapping such that for every x, x̃ ∈ X, the relation

d(Tx, T x̃) ≤ λd(x, x̃) (37)

holds, then the operator T has a unique defined fixed point x∗ ∈ X. Moreover, if T k (k ∈ N)
is the sequence defined by
⎧
⎨T k = TT k–1 , k ∈ N\{1},
(38)
⎩T 1 = T,

∗
then, for any x0 ∈ X, {T k x0 }k=∞
k=1 converges to the above fixed point x .

Definition 2.1 Let m ∈ N, G ⊂ Rm , [a, b] ⊂ R and f : [a, b] × G → R be a function such

that, for any (x1 , . . . , xm ), (x̃1 , . . . , x̃m ) ∈ G, f satisfies the generalized Lipschitzian condition:

f [t, x1 , . . . , xm ] – f [t, x̃1 , . . . , x̃m ] ≤ A1 |x1 – x̃1 | + · · · + Am |xm – x̃m |,

Aj ≥ 0, j = 1, . . . , m. (39)
Gambo et al. Advances in Difference Equations (2018) 2018:134 Page 7 of 13

In particular, f satisfies the Lipschitzian condition with respect to the second variable if,
for all t ∈ (a, b] and for any x, x̃ ∈ G, one has

f [t, x] – f [t, x̃] ≤ A|x – x̃|, A > 0. (40)

Lemma 2.7 ([27]) Let 0 < a < b < ∞, α > 0, and 0 ≤  < 1, then
(a) If 0 < α < , then a I α,ρ is bounded from C,ρ [a, b] into C–α,ρ [a, b]:
 α
 α,ρ  bρ – a ρ (1 – )
 I f ≤ f C,ρ ; (41)
a C–α,ρ ρ (1 + α – )

(b) If α ≥ , then a I α,ρ is bounded from C,ρ [a, b] into C[a, b]:
 α–
 α,ρ  bρ – a ρ (1 – )
 I f ≤ f C,ρ ; (42)
a C ρ (1 + α – )

(c) The fractional integral operator a I α,ρ represents a mapping from C[a, b] to C[a, b]
and
 ρ 
 α,ρ  1 b – aρ α
 I f ≤ f C . (43)
a C (α + 1) ρ

3 Cauchy type problem generalized with generalized Caputo fractional

derivative
We now present the existence and uniqueness of solutions to the Cauchy problem (1)–(2)
in the space Cγα,r [a, b] for a nonlinear fractional differential equation with generalized Ca-
puto fractional derivative. We denote h[t, x(t), (Ca Dα1 ,ρ x)(t), . . . , (Ca Dαm ,ρ x)(t)] by h[t, ψ(t, x)]
for the sake of simplicity.
The Volterra type integral equation corresponding to problem (1)–(2) can be written as

   x α–1
n–1
dj t ρ – aρ j 1 tρ – τ ρ   dτ
x(t) = + h τ , ψ(τ , x) 1–ρ dt, t > a. (44)
j=0
j! ρ (α) a ρ τ

Theorem 3.1 Let α > 0, n = [α] + 1, and αj ∈ R(j = 0, . . . , m) such that

0 = α0 < α1 < · · · < αm < n – 1. (45)

Let G ∈ Rm+1 be open subsets, and let h : (a, b] × G → R be a function such that
h[t, x, x1 , . . . , xm ] ∈ C,ρ [a, b] for arbitrary x, x1 , . . . , xm ∈ C,ρ [a, b], and the Lipschitz con-
dition (38) is satisfied.
(a) If x ∈ Cγα,n–1 [a, b], then x satisfies relations (1)–(2) if and only if x satisfies equation
(44).
(b) If 0 < α < 1, then x ∈ Cγα [a, b] satisfies the relations
C   
aD
α,ρ
x (t) = h t, ψ(t, x) , x(a) = d0 , d0 ∈ R (46)

if and only if x satisfies the equation

 α,ρ
 
x(t) = d0 + aI h τ , ψ(τ , x) (t), t > a. (47)
Gambo et al. Advances in Difference Equations (2018) 2018:134 Page 8 of 13

Proof Let α ∈ (n – 1, n) and suppose x ∈ Cγn–1 [a, b] satisfies equations (1)–(2). According
to Definition 3.1 in [1],
 ρ 
C 

n–1 k ρ k
α,ρ (γ x)(a) t – a
aD x (t) = a Dα,ρ x(τ ) – (t).
k! ρ
k=0

Then we have that (Ca Dα,ρ x)(t) ∈ C,ρ [a, b], which implies
  

n–1
(γ k x)(a) t ρ – aρ k
γ n
aI
n–α,ρ
x(τ ) – (t) ∈ C,ρ [a, b].
k! ρ
k=0

Then, using (1), (2) and Lemma 2.4, we have

 
 α,ρ
C α,ρ
 n–1
(γ k x)(a) t ρ – aρ k
x(t) = aI a D x (t) +
k! ρ
k=0

 k
α,ρ
  n–1
dk t ρ – aρ
= aI h τ , ψ(τ , x) (t) + , t > a.
k! ρ
k=0

This means x ∈ Cγn–1 [a, b] satisfies (44).

To prove the sufficiency, let x ∈ Cγn–1 [a, b] satisfy (44). Then

 
α,ρ
  n–1
dj t ρ – aρ j
a I h τ , ψ(τ , x) (t) = x(t) – .
j=0
j! ρ

Taking the generalized fractional derivative a Dα,ρ of both sides of this relation and con-
sidering the conditions for h, we obtain
 
 

n–1
dj t ρ – aρ j  
aD
α,ρ
aI
α,ρ
h τ , ψ(τ , x) (t) = a D α,ρ
x(t) – = Ca Dα,ρ x (t),
j=0
j! ρ

where we have used Definition 3.1 in [1]. Thus, x ∈ Cγn–1 [a, b] satisfies (1).
On the other hand, applying γ k , k = 0, 1, . . . , n – 1, to both sides of (44) gives

 ρ 
n–1
dj t – aρ j–k  
γ k x(t) = + γ k a I α,ρ h τ , ψ(τ , x) (t), t>a
(j – k)! ρ
j=k

 ρ 
n–1
dj t – aρ j–k  
= + a Dα,ρ h τ , ψ(τ , x) (t), t > a.
(j – k)! ρ
j=k

Since the fractional derivative at an end point is zero, i.e., (a Dα,ρ f )(a) = 0, then letting
τ → a we obtain
 
γ k x (a) = dk , k = 0, 1, . . . , n – 1.

Thus, if x satisfies (44), then it also satisfies the initial condition (2). Hence x ∈ Cγn–1 [a, b]
satisfies the Cauchy problem (1)–(2).
Gambo et al. Advances in Difference Equations (2018) 2018:134 Page 9 of 13

The second part of the theorem can be proven analogously. Note that since 0 < α < 1,
n–1 (γ k x)(a) tρ –aρ k
this implies n = 1, and therefore the term
k=0 k!
( ρ ) reduces to x(a). 

Theorem 3.2 Let α ∈ R, n = [α] + 1, 0 ≤  < 1 such that  ≤ α. Let αj > 0, j = 1, . . . , m,

satisfying (25). Suppose G is an open set in Rm+1 and h : (a, b] × G → R is a function such
that h[t, x, x1 , . . . , xm ] ∈ C,ρ [a, b] and the Lipschitz condition (39) is satisfied.
(a) If n – 1 < α < n, then there exists a unique solution x to problem (22)–(23) in the
space Cγα,n–1
, [a, b].
(b) If 0 < α < 1, then there exists a unique solution x ∈ Cγα, [a, b] to problem (22) with the
condition x(a) = d0 ∈ R.

Proof Theorem 3.1 gives us the sufficiency to establish the existence of a unique solution
x ∈ Cγα,n–1
, [a, b] to (44).
First step: We show the existence of a unique solution x ∈ Cγn–1 [a, b].
(a) Choosing t1 ∈ [a, b], we prove the existence of a unique solution x ∈ Cγn–1 [a, t1 ] satis-
fying the conditions

n–1

m  Re(α–αj )–k
t1 ρ – a ρ (1 – )
Aj < 1,  ≤ α.
ρ (1 –  + α – αj – k)
k=0 j=0

We then apply Theorem 2.6 to prove that there is a unique solution x ∈ Cγn–1 [a, t1 ] to (44).
Equation (44) can be rewritten in the form x(t) = (Tx)(t), where

   t α–1
n–1
dj t ρ – aρ j 1 t ρ – aρ   dτ
(Tx)(t) = + h τ , ψ(τ , x) 1–ρ .
j=0
j! ρ (α) a ρ τ

n–1 dj t ρ –aρ j
Denoting x0 (t) = j=0 j! ( ρ ) , it follows that x0 (t) ∈ Cγn–1 [a, t1 ] since x0 (t) can be ex-
pressed as a finite sum of functions in Cγn–1 [a, t1 ]. Furthermore,

   
h τ , ψ(τ , x) ∈ C,ρ [a, b] ⇒ h τ , ψ(τ , x) ∈ C,ρ [a, t1 ],

and using equation (42), we obtain

 
aI
α,ρ
h τ , ψ(τ , x) (t) ∈ C[a, t1 ] if  ≤ α,

where α > 0 and 0 ≤  < 1.

Let x ∈ Cγn–1 [a, t1 ], then using (43), it can be observed that the integral term on the right-
hand side of (44) belongs to Cγn–1 [a, t1 ]. This means a I α,ρ h[τ , ψ(τ , x)](t) ∈ Cγn–1 [a, t1 ]. Thus,
Tx ∈ Cγn–1 [a, t1 ] and therefore we have proven that T is continuous on Cγn–1 [a, t1 ]. Next we
show that T is a contraction by proving that given x1 , x2 ∈ Cγn–1 [a, t1 ], ∃u > 0 such that

Tx1 – Tx2 Cγn–1 [a,t1 ] ≤ ux1 – x2 Cγn–1 [a,t1 ] .

Gambo et al. Advances in Difference Equations (2018) 2018:134 Page 10 of 13

Using Lemma 2.1, Lemma 2.4, and (39), we obtain

 α,ρ     
 aI h τ , x1 , C Dα1 ,ρ x1 , . . . , C Dαm ,ρ x1 – h τ , x2 , C Dα1 ,ρ x2 , . . . , C Dαm ,ρ x2 
a a a a Cγn–1 [a,t1 ]
  
≤ a I α,ρ h τ , x1 , Ca Dα1 ,ρ x1 , . . . , Ca Dαm ,ρ x1
  
– h τ , x2 , Ca Dα1 ,ρ x2 , . . . , Ca Dαm ,ρ x2 C n–1 [a,t ]
γ 1
 m 

    
≤ Aj  a I α–αj ,ρ a I αj ,ρ C Dαj ,ρ (x1 – x2 ) n–1
a Cγ [a,t1 ]
j=0
 

m
   
= Aja I α–αj ,ρ a I αj ,ρ Ca Dαj ,ρ (x1 – x2 )C n–1 [a,t
γ 1]
j=0
  nj –1   

m
γ kj (x1 – x2 )(a) t ρ – aρ kj
= Aja I α–αj ,ρ
x1 – x2 Cγn–1 [a,t1 ] (τ ) – .
j=0
kj ! ρ
kj =0

Now, since x1 , x2 ∈ Cγn–1 [a, t1 ], it follows that γ kj x1 (a) = γ kj x2 (a), and therefore

 α,ρ     
a I h τ , x1 , C Dα1 ,ρ x1 , . . . , C Dαm ,ρ x1 – h τ , x2 , C Dα1 ,ρ x2 , . . . , C Dαm ,ρ x2 
a a a a Cγn–1 [a,t1 ]

m
 
≤ Aj a I α–αj ,ρ x1 – x2 
j=0

or

 α,ρ      
m
 
a I h τ , ψ(τ , x1 ) – h τ , ψ(τ , x2 ) (t) ≤ Aj a I α–αj ,ρ x1 – x2  (t). (48)
j=0

Then, according to the second part of Lemma 2.7 and equation (48), we have

 α,ρ      
a I h τ , ψ(τ , x1 ) – h τ , ψ(τ , x2 ) (t) Cγn–1 [a,t1 ]
 n–1 

     
 
≤ aI
α–k,ρ
h τ , ψ(τ , x1 ) – h τ , ψ(τ , x2 ) (t)
 
k=0 Cγ [a,t1 ]

n–1

m  ρ Re(α–αj )–k
t1 ρ – a (1 – )
≤ Aj x1 – x2 Cγn–1 [a,t1 ] .
ρ (1 –  + α – αj – k)
k=0 j=0

Hence

Tx1 – Tx2 Cγn–1 [a,t1 ] ≤ ux1 – x2 Cγn–1 [a,t1 ] ∀x1 , x2 ∈ Cγn–1 [a, t1 ].

This tells us that there is a fixed point x∗f ∈Cγn–1 [a,t1 ] which is defined explicitly as a limit of
iterations of the mapping T. That is,

 
lim xp (t) – x∗ (t)C n–1 [a,b] = 0,
p→∞ γ
Gambo et al. Advances in Difference Equations (2018) 2018:134 Page 11 of 13

where

xp (t) = T p x∗fi , x∗fi (t) = xf (t), x∗ (t) = x∗i (t), i = 0, 1, . . . , M,

and

x∗i (ti+1 ) = x∗i+1 (ti+1 ), [a, b] = [ti , ti+1 ], a = t0 < · · · < tm = m.

Second step:
It should be noted that proving the unique solution x∗ (t) belonging to Cγα,n–1
, [a, b] com-
pletes the proof. Then it suffices to show that (a D x)(t) ∈ C,ρ [a, b].
C α,ρ

From (48),
C α,ρ    
 D xp (t) – C Dα,ρ x∗ (t)
a a C,ρ [a,b]
     
= h t, ψ(t, xp ) – h t, ψ t, x∗  C,ρ [a,b]

m
  
≤ Aj Ca Dα,ρ xp (t) – x∗ (t) C,ρ [a,b]
j=0

m
  
≤ Aj a I n–1–αj ,ρ γ n–1 xp (t) – x∗ (t) C,ρ [a,b]
j=0

 
m
bρ – a ρ  n–1–α ,ρ n–1  
≤ Aj a I j γ xp (t) – x∗ (t) 
ρ C[a,b]
j=0
ρ –aρ 

m
(b )  n–1  
≤ Aj
ρ γ xp (t) – x∗ (t) C[a,b]
j=0
(n – αj )
ρ –aρ 

m
(b )  
≤ Aj
ρ  xp (t) – x∗ (t)  n–1 .
(n – αj ) C [a,b]
j=0

Taking limit as p → ∞ makes the right-hand side of the above inequality approach 0 in-
dependently. This implies
    
lim  Ca Dα,ρ xp (t) – Ca Dα,ρ x∗ (t)C,ρ [a,b] = 0.
p→∞

Hence, there exists a unique solution x∗ ∈ Cγα,n–1

, [a, b] to equation (44).
(b) In the same way, the second part of the theorem can be proven. 

Corollary 3.3 When  = 0 and with the assumptions of Theorem 3.2, a unique solution
x∗ (t) ∈ Cγn–1 [a, b] to problem (1)–(2) exists.

Proof The proof is analogous to that of Theorem 3.2 where

 α,ρ      
a I h τ , ψ(τ , x1 ) – h τ , ψ(τ , x2 ) (t) C[ti ,ti+1 ]
ti+1 ρ –ti ρ (α–αj )–k

n–1

m
( )  
×  x1 (t) – x2 (t) C[t ,t
ρ
≤ Aj ,
(α – αj – k + 1) i i+1 ]
k=0 j=0
Gambo et al. Advances in Difference Equations (2018) 2018:134 Page 12 of 13

i = 0, 1, . . . , M with t0 = a, tM = b and
C α,ρ    
 D xp (t) – C Dα,ρ x∗ (t)
a a C,ρ [a,b]

bρ –aρ 

m
( )  
×  xp (t) – x∗ (t) C n–1 [a,b] .
ρ
≤ Aj
j=0
(n – αj ) 

Corollary 3.4 Let α > 0 with n = [α]+1 and 0 ≤  < 1 such that  ≤ α. For positive non-zero
integer m, if f (t) ∈ C,ρ [a, b], dj (t) ∈ C[a, b], and αj > 0 (j = 1, . . . , m) satisfying (45), then
there exists a unique solution x(t) ∈ Cγα,n–1 [a, b] to the Cauchy problem for the following
linear fractional differential equation of order α:

C 

m
 
aD
α,ρ
x (t) + dj (t) Ca Dαj ,ρ x (t) + d0 (t)x(t) = f (t), t>a (49)
j=1

having initial conditions (2).

Proof The proof follows immediately from Theorem 3.2. 

Acknowledgements
The fourth author would like to thank Prince Sultan University for funding this work through research group Nonlinear
Analysis Methods in Applied Mathematics (NAMAM) group number RG-DES-2017-01-17.

Competing interests
The authors declare they have no competing interests.

Authors’ contributions
The main idea of this paper was proposed by TA and FJ. YYG and RA prepared the manuscript and performed all the steps
of the proofs equally in this research. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Author details
1
Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Sciences, Northwest University Kano, Kano, Nigeria. 2 Department of
Mathematics, Selçuk University, Konya, Turkey. 3 Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Cankaya
University, Ankara, Turkey. 4 Department of Mathematics and General Sciences, Prince Sultan University, Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia.

Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Received: 5 January 2018 Accepted: 8 April 2018

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